


Peter Parker and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

by daredeviljr



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Awesome May Parker (Spider-Man), Ben Parker Dies, Gen, May Parker (Spider-Man) Needs a Hug, PLEASE READ THE NOTES this is a weird one that will take some explaining, POV Peter Parker, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Mess, Pre-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Teen Peter Parker, Worried May Parker (Spider-Man), yet again
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:34:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23044084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daredeviljr/pseuds/daredeviljr
Summary: Peter Parker had been in dozens of field trips before. All of them were fairly uneventful, even a little boring at times. The trips offered at his new school promised to change that, though. How many fourteen years olds could say they visited Oscorp, after all? It was a dream come true!Then there was that spider.(AKA MCU Spidey's origin story that everyone knows and no one asked for, but I wrote anyways)
Relationships: Ben Parker & May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Ben Parker & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker
Comments: 10
Kudos: 20





	1. Worst. School trip. Ever.

**Author's Note:**

> OK BEFORE YOU JUMP INTO THIS, HEAR ME OUT. I know this fic is gonna take some explaining.  
> So, first off, don’t judge me on the first person narration decision. I’ve been (re)reading Rick Riordan’s books lately and realized that style could fit into a Spider-Man fic really well, so I decided to give it a shot. That being said, I don’t trust my writing in first person’ abilities, and this is, in fact, the first time I’ve tried doing so. So, if this sucks, I do apologize, I’m trying my best lol.
> 
> Also, yes, we all know Spidey’s origin story, it’s been told to us like at least twice and that’s just in the movies, not including ITSV, which told that same story multiple times in the movie itself. The thing is, as well as I know it, ever since Homecoming, I’ve wondered how it went for MCU Peter specifically.
> 
> So that, combined with the idea of writing a Spidey fic with a bit of a Percy Jackson style of narration originated into whatever this turns out to be.
> 
> All chapters for this are mostly thought out, and I’ll do my best to write and post them in a somewhat timely manner, but no promises, because, on top of regular life stuff, I’m also currently writing another fic, which I don’t post chapters for in a timely manner at all, so you know.
> 
> But that’s enough about me and my weird, questionable decisions. 
> 
> Now to what said weird, questionable decisions created. I hope you enjoy!

I’ve always wanted superpowers. Every kid does, especially when we keep hearing about superheroes on the news everyday helping people and being adored by thousands of people, who wouldn’t want to have a life like that? They make it seem so cool!

I had no idea of how much superpowers could actually  _ suck _ .

Well, okay, they’re not actually that bad. I can’t deny that being able to stop buses with my bare hands, or climbing up walls are the coolest things ever.

Still, they don’t come without a price, do they? Even if you don’t go off helping people or kicking alien butt,  _ something _ will definitely catch up to you eventually. And no one ever talks about how many different, painful ways you can get killed when it does. 

Or, even worse, when your loved ones get to pay that price instead. 

_ That’s _ the part that sucks.

Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself, let me start over: Hi, I’m Peter Parker, I’m fourteen years old, and until a few months ago, I was a pretty normal kid. I stayed on top of my homework, went to school, talked about nerdy movies with my friend, Ned, and then went home to a loving family. 

Perfect life, right? Well, kind of, but I couldn’t ask for anything else.

But it all started going downhill after my school took my class on a trip to Oscorp.

First off, let me just say I had never been so excited about a school trip before. I had been looking up to Norman Osborn my whole life, way before Tony Stark ever built the Iron Man suit. When our teacher told us about the trip, I couldn’t contain my excitement.

Well, no one in my class could. We go to a school focused on science and technology, it says right at the name! Of course we all couldn’t wait to start going on trips like this.

As my luck would have it, I overslept.

I jumped out of bed and got ready as fast as possible. I had about 5 minutes to get to the bus station, otherwise I’d have to go all the way to Manhattan and meet my class there, and I’d most definitely be late for that.

I ran through the living room heading for the door, trying to tie my shoes as I walked.

“Hey, what’s the hurry?” Ben asked from the kitchen, and I jumped to my feet.

“Hi, Ben, sorry, I’m really late, I’ll talk to you later, okay?” 

“Wait, sit down!” He said, checking watch, “Have some breakfast, I can give you a ride.”

“Wait, really?” I replied. “I-I mean, won’t you be late or something?”

Ben used to drive me to school everyday, but it became a lot harder once I started high school in Midtown. It was way off his way to work, so I started taking the bus (followed closely by the train). I didn’t really mind, but it sure was annoying in days like this.

“I’ll be fine.” Ben answered. “No need to be running after that bus if I can drive you to school.”

I sighed in relief and sat at the dining table, grabbing some toast and putting it on the plate nearest to me, suddenly realizing I was starving.

“So, today’s the big day, huh?” Ben said. “Excited?”

“Yeah, definitely!” I replied. “I mean, it’s Oscorp, how long have I been dreaming of going there, right?”

Ben always listened to me rambling on and on about science. He had said multiple times that he didn’t understand most of it, but still enjoyed listening to it. 

I asked why once, and apparently, my dad used to do the same thing, and he didn’t care enough back then. It was only after my father died that he realized how much he missed it.

I never met my dad. Or my mom, for that matter. I’ve lived with Ben and May for as long as I can remember. From what Ben and May told me, they died before I was old enough to even walk.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s really bad that I never got to meet them, but honestly, it’s hard to feel sad about the deaths of people I’ve never met. I know they were great people, but my whole life it had always just been Ben and May. 

As far as I was concerned, they were my real parents.

“Oh, hey, boys! May greeted us as she walked into the apartment.

“Hi, May!” I greeted her as she walked over to us. “Where were you?”

“Work. Something came up, I took the overnight shift.” She answered, earning a grunt from Ben.

He never liked it when May took late night shifts. He always went on about how they were doing well, and she had no need to overwork herself for some extra cash. May always ignored him.

“Pete, it’s late, why are you still here?” She asked.

“I’m giving him a ride today.” Ben answered, “It’s that big school trip today, remember?”

“Oh, right! You better tell us all about it when I get home.” She smiled, “I’ll go get some rest, HAVE A GOOD DAY, YOU TWO.”

She kissed Ben’s cheek and ruffled my hair before walking into her bedroom. 

“May can take care of herself, you know.” I told my uncle, seeing the frown on his face.. “I don’t think we need to worry about her.”

“You think I don’t know that? I feel bad for the poor bastard that tries to bother her.” He answered. “It’s just-- I mean, she has no need to unless there’s an emergency, you know.” He shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. I’ve been trying to convince her of it for almost twenty years, she won’t start listening now.”

We left as soon as breakfast was done and Ben was pulling up at the school not long after. It really was ridiculous how little time it took for me to get there by car compared to the bus and train. 

I thanked Ben for the ride and ran to the group of students standing near the bus, quickly locating my best friend Ned.

“Dude, Oscorp!” Was his greeting as we did our secret handshake.

It was unnecessarily complicated, but at this point we were too used to doing it to stop. In our defense, we came up with it in seventh grade. We all make dumb decisions in seventh grade.

“Yeah, I know!” I answered. “It’s crazy, right?”

“We’re meeting Norman Osborn!”

Ned had spent most of the past week convincing himself that we’d run into the man himself on our trip. Personally, I thought the guy would be too busy to say hello to a bunch of high school freshman, but I wasn’t about to be the one crushing Ned’s dreams.

But to be completely honest, I wouldn’t complain if Osborn  _ did _ find the time to say hello to a bunch of high school freshman, it would most definitely be the coolest thing to ever happen to me! Still, I was determined to not get my expectations too high.

Our teacher, Mr Harrington called for our attention near the bus to give us the general rules, and before long we were on our way to Oscorp.

The ride took a long time, and my anticipation didn’t make it any better. Luckily, Ned was pretty much on the same boat, so at least we both had a good distraction on the way talking about what we hoped we would get to see.

The second we had a view of Oscorp Tower, all the students gathered around our side of the bus to take a better look at it. 

I had to admit, it was the most impressive building I had ever seen, which was saying a lot, considering we were in New York. I couldn’t even believe that was where we were headed.

“Everyone get back to your seats, please!” Mr Harrington ordered. 

Everyone shuffled to sit back down, and murmuring filled the bus. Ned was one of the people responsible.

“Dude, what should we go see first?”

“I-I don’t think we’ll get to choose. It’s still a school trip.” I answered.

“C’mon, Peter, how many times will we be able to visit  _ Oscorp _ ? It’s only fair we see some things on our own if they don’t let us see anything interesting!”

Thankfully, I didn’t have to think of an answer, because Mr Harrington started talking again.

“Alright, guys, we’re here!” He said, as if no one had noticed. “No one rush to get out, we’re not heading in just yet! Stay together, and remember the buddy system!”

Everyone was in a rush to get out.

Ned and I waited until most people had gotten out before getting up to leave. As excited as we were, there was no point in trying and wrestling our way out before everyone else. Well, at least that was what I did, I knew for a fact I wouldn’t get very far before getting elbowed to my ribs or falling on my face. It wasn’t worth the risk.

Once we stepped out, a fancy car parked right behind the bus. No one had to turn to see it was Flash who had just arrived.

“What’s up, Penis Parker!” He called as he walked by me to the front of the class.

Before anything else, let me get this out of the way: Flash was a dick. 

He wasn’t the worst bully I’ve ever had, by a long shot. One of the advantages of going to a school that’s full of nerds is that the worst type of bully to find is one like Flash-- the rich kid who thinks he’s better than everyone because he has designer clothes, or the latest phone, and doesn’t need to take the subway to get to school, or the school bus for school trips because his parents just paid some guy to drive him around everywhere. I’d take that over getting beaten up in the back alley anyday.

It obviously didn’t make Flash any more tolerable, but I had gotten used to just tuning him out in the past few months. 

After more rules and directions from Mr Harrington, we finally went inside, where a lady in a lab coat came to meet our group.

“Hello, guys. My name is Gwen Stacy, I’ll be showing you guys around today!”

She didn’t look much older than us, and was clearly just some poor intern who had been given the task to guide a bunch of high schoolers around the building for the day. 

Still, she didn’t seem too bothered as she took us to the elevators. At that point, we had to split the class into two groups. The first one got into the first elevator with Miss Stacy, and the rest waited downstairs to wait for the next one.

In case you’re wondering, yes, Ned and I were in the second group who had to wait downstairs, like the true losers we were.

As for the trip itself, I’ll spare you most details.

Yes, I could sit here and describe everything I saw, every bit of research we were told the lab were running, and all the many ways every single thing I saw in the building could be revolutionary to treat countless diseases, or just overall make our lives a thousand times easier.

Yes, even that ant carrying a doughnut crumb one of the scientists had dropped.  _ Especially _ that ant carrying a doughnut crumb one of the scientists had dropped. Trust me.

The thing is, we would be here forever, so I’ll just jump straight into the most interesting: the biotechnology lab.

Yes, seriously, that’s the interesting part.

As Miss Stacy guided as through the room, she explained that their biggest project in that area was cross species genetics as a way to treat illnesses, or body disfigurements.

Their current main subject was, apparently, a wide number of different types of spiders. Their current objective was to see if they could transfer spiders abilities between species to create some sort of super spider.

Now,  _ why _ someone would ever want to create a  _ super spider _ is beyond me, but according to Miss Stacy, the spiders were merely the first step. The research would still go through many other stages.

She then showed us the spiders that were being experimented on. All of them were held in cubicles stacked on top of each other in one of the desks, so we could actually see them.

Well, Ned and I barely could. As usual, we were standing behind everyone in our group. Ned isn’t that tall, and my eyesight is, what the experts like to call, a piece of crap, so even with my giant glasses I needed to wear every waking hour, it was really hard to see the tiny little dots at the front of the class, while also trying to peek above everyone’s heads.

So, as it became our routine, we waited until most of the students had moved on to something else before even trying to approach the desk.

The spiders didn’t look like much, if I’m being honest. The most impressive thing I saw was one of them jumping between the walls of their confined space. I knew not every spider could do that, so I assumed that was one of their successful experiments.

Or, it was just a regular jumping spider, but I was trying to be positive.

“There’s one missing.” Ned called out, pointing at one of the cubicles. “It didn’t get away, did it?

I had to lean a bit on the desk to properly see the one he was pointing to, and indeed, it seemed to be empty. 

Miss Stacy overheard him, and walked over to us to take a look herself.

“Oh, well. I’m sure they just took it out for testing, it’s nothing to worry about. The spiders can’t leave these containers on their own.” She assured us. 

After that, the tour was paused for lunch, and we were led to the cafeteria.

I gave Ned my lunch money and told him what I wanted before heading to the bathroom. 

Don’t judge me, the line was huge with our class and the regular employees, and I  _ really _ needed to go.

I was about to wash my hands when I felt something crawling around my hand. When I actually looked at it, I noticed the spider.

I froze.

I wasn’t sure what to do. For a moment, I entertained the thought of it being the one Ned and I had noticed to be missing back at the biotech lab.

For the rest of the time, the only thought that occured to me was: YIKES!

Before I could move to do anything, I felt its fangs dug into my hand. I cursed and I slapped it out of my hand. I turned on the sink and watched as it went down the drain.

I looked at the bite in my hand. It honestly didn’t look too bad. I could only hope it wasn’t venomous, because I definitely couldn’t afford the medical bills.

(With my luck, though, I wasn’t too confident.)

I washed my hands and left the bathroom, trying to act as if I hadn’t just had a very weird encounter with a spider that might have been bred and tested in a lab, which could result in all sorts of weird things for me.

For about an hour, everything was totally normal. I didn’t feel any different, or sick at all. The only reminder that it had really happened was the fang marks on my hand, but even then, it isn’t like I spend a lot of time staring at my hands.

Then, things started getting weird.

I started getting headaches, as much as I tried to focus on what Miss Stacy was telling us, I couldn’t. Literally, she kept going in and out of focus in my vision, and I could just barely make out what she was saying.

It got so bad, I eventually had to take a seat on the floor in the middle of what our tour guide was saying. Because I was standing in the back of the class, Ned was the only one who noticed. 

“Pe...? Is… eve.. okay?” Was all I could hear him say. 

Everything was just  _ so loud _ . And yet I could barely hear any of it. I knew Miss Stacy continued to talk at the front of the class, because she might as well be yelling right next to my ear, but I couldn’t understand a single word of what she was saying. I knew many of my classmates were talking between themselves because it felt like I was standing right between them, but their voices didn’t seem to form actual words. At least not to my ears. And that wasn’t even counting the cars outside, or all the people not so quietly working all around us in the lab, or all the equipment running all around us.

I took off my glasses to see if it would help with the headache. It didn’t. But I was surprised to see that not having them on actually helped me, like,  _ see _ . Things were still blurry as ever, but I could easily make out what they were than I did a second ago when they were on

“Y-Yeah.” I told Ned. “’m good.”

Ned didn’t seem to believe that for a second and helped me stand up. He started leading me somewhere, and I felt too dizzy to question it, so I let him.

“...gton, P… tty bad…” I barely made out Ned’s voice.

Wait. Was he talking to Mr Harrington? 

I blinked, and looked up at who was standing in front of us. The lights nearly blinded me, but yes, I could clearly see it was our teacher.

Too clearly, in fact. I could swear I could see every single pore in his face. 

Ned  _ did _ rat me out to him. Traitor.

Mr Harrington said something, but I didn’t know whether it was directed at me, Ned, or someone else.

Before I could even make another effort to get into the conversation and assure my teacher I was fine, my stomach turned. 

A lot more alert all of a sudden, I looked around for the nearest trashcan and bolted towards it, right before my lunch came back the way it came from. Gross, I know.

I didn’t move. I was afraid that my breakfast would also come back any second, but I was also very aware every pair of eyes in the room were staring at me.

I don’t know if you’ve ever puked in front of your whole class, plus a handful of strangers before, but I assure you it’s very embarrassing. The last thing I wanted to do was turn around to face them.

I’m not too clear on the details of what happened after that. Mr Harrington and Ned led me out of the lab and into the reception. Mr Harrington was saying something, I knew that, but once again, I didn’t know if it was directed at me or anyone else, and at this point I had no energy to try and figure out.

A few minutes later, Mr Harrington led me outside and into a familiar car. It wasn’t until I was inside that I noticed it was Ben’s car. Mr Harrington must have called him when he realized I was feeling sick.

Or, at least, Ned must have. 

Traitor.  _ Again. _

“Pete?” Ben said once I got inside. This time I could clearly make out my uncle’s voice, which came as a surprise. “What happened?”

I shrugged. “Must’ve eaten something weird.” I replied. “I don’t feel so good.”

Ned had already told him, I was going home no matter what, so there was no point in fighting it anymore.

“Well, clearly!” He answered, putting his hand on my forehead to feel my temperature. “Pete, you’re burning up! This can’t be something you ate! We should take you to the hospital!”

“No!” I was quick to answer. “No, Ben, I promise, it’s probably just a stomach bug or something, I’ll be fine tomorrow, just-- can we go home? Please?”

Ben let out a sigh, clearly not thrilled by that option, and started the car. “Fine. But we’re going to the hospital if you’re not feeling better by tomorrow, there’s no getting out of that!

I nodded. Anything to get out of the hospital for as long as I could help it. They already spent way too much money on me, no need to add ridiculously expensive medical bills to it.

Ben was right, there was no way this was something I ate. Ned ate the same sandwich as I did, and he seemed fine. It had to be that spider bite.

I risked a look at it when Ben was distracted with the road.

Somehow, the fang marks had already disappeared. It was like the bite had never happened.


	2. I Don't Remember Asking for Abs!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, wow chapter 2, that's one chapter more than I expected to write in this format, but it's been really fun so here we are! We all know how this story goes, so don't worry, all the disaster will be coming in the next few chapters. I have no idea when they're coming but they're on their way!
> 
> Thank you for those of you who took the time to read it and leave kudos, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

I don’t remember much of the ride home. I remember that Ben tried talking to me some more, but I was too worn out to make an effort to pay attention. I remember falling face first onto my pillow, and I scarcely remember May and Ben by my bedside a couple of times overnight. They were talking between themselves, but, again, I couldn’t make any effort to even attempt to listen in.

By the time I finally woke up and felt well enough to not go straight back to sleep, it was light out. 

I reached out to grab my phone. There were a few texts from Ned asking me how I was, a bunch of other notifications for mobile games, but what actually caught my eye was the clock. It was almost 11AM, I was most  _ definitely _ late for school!

I kicked off the sheets and got up. I figured I should at least change before leaving so I wasn’t wearing the same clothes twice in a row. Just as I was about to run to the wardrobe, I felt something pull at my left hand. 

When I looked back, I saw that the fitted sheet on my bed was stuck on my hand. Really. I wasn’t holding it, I wasn’t wearing a watch of anything that it could get stuck to, it was just glued to the palm of my hand.

What the hell?

I yanked my arm to get it off. But, instead of freeing my hand, it pulled not only the sheet off the mattress, but it also pulled the mattress off the bed frame. The sheet was still firmly glued to my hand.

I tried shaking it off (the sheet fully came off the mattress), I tried pulling it off with my free hand, as hard as I could (I gave up when it started to tear). Nothing worked. 

“Peter?” I heard Ben call on the hallway.

There was a knock on the door, and I quickly hid my hand behind my back just as Ben opened the door and poked his head in.

“I thought I heard you.” He smiled, “How are you feeling, bud?”

“I-I’m great!” I answered, a little too quickly, though, honestly, it wasn’t a lie. “I’m late, for school, though, so I-I should--”

“May called the school, don’t worry.” He said, “She let them know you weren’t feeling very well, so you can stay home today. You need to rest, I don’t care how much better you’re feeling.” He added quickly when I opened my mouth to argue. “Are you sure everything is okay?” He asked, his gaze on my mattress hanging halfway off the bed frame.

“Yeah, fine!” I answered. “Really, Ben, I feel a lot better. I promise!”

Ben nodded, but reached out his hand to feel my forehead anyway. If there was still any doubt in his mind, he chose not to argue further, and just offered me a smile.

“Well, if you say so.” He ruffled my hair. “Take it easy today, alright? Get some rest, watch some Netflix, don’t move around more than you have to. Just to be sure.” He said, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “There’s plenty of food in the fridge for when you get hungry, and if you need anything, call me or May, alright? We’ll come running.”

I nodded, and assured him I would. 

After making me promise to call if I started feeling sick again for about the tenth time, Ben finally left for work. It was only then that I realized the sheet wasn’t stuck to my hand anymore. 

I looked around to find it laying on the floor, right behind me.  _ Huh. _

I picked it up, trying to find anything unusual about it. Anything that would  _ somehow _ explain how it got stuck to my hand and how I couldn’t get it off, only for it to somehow fall off on its own.

Instead, it just looked like a regular fitted sheet that I accidentally yanked out of my mattress, which I found really annoying. 

I fixed the mattress on the frame and put the sheet back on before grabbing my phone to reply to Ned.

_ Yesterday: _

(4:56 PM)  **Ned:** Yo, just got home   
(4:57 PM)  **Ned:** Rest of the trip was p boring, u didnt miss anything   
(8:33 PM)  **Ned:** Everything ok?

_ Today: _

(8:45 AM)  **Ned:** Pete?   
(10:57 AM)  **Peter:** Hey, sorry, blacked out last night **  
** (10:57 AM)  **Peter:** Im good, dw about it **  
** (10:58 AM)  **Ned:** Okay, good   
(10:58 AM)  **Ned:** Want me to email u hw and stuff?   
(10:59 AM)  **Peter:** Yeah, thatd be great   
(11:00 AM)  **Ned:** Will do   
(11:00 AM)  **Ned:** Gotta get to class. Talk later?   
(11:01 AM)  **Peter:** Yeah, see ya

It was only when I put my phone down that I realized I was starving. Like,  _ really _ starving. Like, ‘my stomach  _ hurts’ _ starving. How did I not realize it until now?

I ignored the cereal, toast, and whatever else I would get for breakfast on a normal day. That just wouldn’t cut it right now. I went straight to the fridge to check what Ben said he left.

They were mostly dinner leftovers, but there was also what was left of the Chinese takeout we had a couple days ago. I doubted that was part of what Ben meant when he said there was food in the fridge, but I grabbed it along with the rest of the leftovers.

I threw it all together on a plate and didn’t even bother heating it up before starting to eat. 

I know that sounds gross, and it probably was, but that didn’t stop me shoving it all in my mouth as fast as I could. 

Which yes, I know also sounds gross, but I was hungry.

Before I realized, I had eaten everything. 

Somehow, I was sure I could still eat more, if there was anything left. Then again, I hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday, so maybe it wasn’t as weird as it seemed.

Right?

Regardless, I gathered the plate and all the containers the food had been in and started doing the dishes. Perhaps I wasn’t feeling as great as I thought, maybe that was some weird side effect of spider bites. 

Well, yeah, that was unlikely. Still, if the spider that bit me really was some freaky lab spider, maybe it wasn’t that far-fetched. 

I was starting to wonder if it was worth it going on Oscorp’s website to check if there was any information about the research on spiders I saw yesterday when a very loud, very obnoxious sound started playing.

It sounded like a car alarm, only it felt like someone put it on a speaker and held it right up to my ears.

No, scratch that. 

It sounded more like someone was playing it inside my head.

I took my hands to my ears to block out some of the sound. I was still holding the plate,so it hit me directly on the side of my head. 

It did help, though, so I kept it there.

Eventually, it stopped, and I let out a sigh of relief. I definitely don’t remember car alarms being that loud. I put the plate down to check out what car it could even be.

Well, I  _ tried _ putting the plate down. Just like the sheet earlier, it was firmly stuck to my hand. I tried pulling it out with my free hand and shaking it off. Again, nothing worked.

Okay, maybe there could be some explanation for all the food I just ate, I wasn’t so sure about this. I definitely wasn’t this sticky before.

Finally, I managed to get it off by holding it to the ground with my feet and pulling as hard as I could. And that was on the third try. 

I analysed my hands. Closely. Honestly, I’m not sure what I expected to see, but my hands just looked… normal. As pale and awkward as they always did.

It was so annoying when things weren’t clear. 

I jumped when I heard the door behind me open.

“Hey, you’re looking better!” May greeted as she walked in.

“Hi!” I said, trying to act like nothing weird had just happened. “Overnight shift again?” 

“I worked most of the day yesterday and the night before, so they let me take the day off.” She answered, “Also, I didn’t want you to be on your own after what happened yesterday. How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine, May!” I assured her as she approached me and put her hand on my forehead to take my temperature. “Seriously, it was probably just a stomach bug or something, I’m all good!”

May hummed. “Well, you should still be resting, just in case.” She said. “First off, though: shower. get some fresh clothes on you, then go lay down, okay? Let’s not take any chances-- did you just eat all of that?” She asked as she spotted the mountain of containers piled on the sink.

“Oh, I-I was hungry. Haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday,so-- yeah.” 

May walked over to the sink. “And why is this plate on the floor?” She asked. “Pete, is something wrong?”

“N-No, I just, you know dropped it by accident,” I figured that made more sense than trying to explain that it got stuck to my hand and I was trying to get it off. “I’ll go take that shower.”

I all but ran to the bathroom before May could ask any more questions I didn’t have any answers to. Something was definitely happening, but I had no idea what. Maybe I  _ was _ really sick from that spider bite and this was all some weird dream that my mind was coming up with. 

Spider bites could do that, right? At the very least, it seemed more plausible than making it so random things got stuck to my hand out of seemingly nowhere.

Still, I was determined not to think about it. Maybe if I ignored it, it would go away. 

Well, that got thrown out the window a second later when I looked in the mirror and realized for the first time that day I didn’t have my glasses on.

Not that not wearing my glasses at home was all that weird. I knew my apartment well enough to not have to wear them at all times. What was weird was how  _ clear _ my vision was despite me not having them on.

I was nearsighted. Have been ever since I can remember. I could see well if things were close enough to my face, but the further they were, the blurrier they became, until it reached a point I couldn’t even make up their shape.

I was standing far enough from the mirror that my face should look like a blur, and yet, I could see it clear as day. 

_ Too  _ clear, in fact. I could see every single crevice of my skin, tell apart each individual hair and pore in sight.

I shouldn’t be able to do that. No human should be able to do that.

What the  _ hell _ ?

I blinked. Taking in all that information at once was almost as overwhelming as all the noise at Oscorp yesterday, and I really didn’t feel like going through all that again.

So for the tenth time in the last twenty minutes, I chose to stop thinking about it before my head exploded. 

And for the tenth time in the last twenty minutes, that failed miserably. I almost let out a scream when I looked down after taking my shirt off.

No way!

I ran back to look in the mirror again. 

When the hell did I get abs? And when did my arms stop looking like twigs?

I’ve always been a weak, skinny kid. I had never seen the inside of a gym in my life, I could barely even lift a gallon of milk! There was no logical way how I could just go from that to looking like some twenty something year old gym rat overnight!

Puberty usually gave guys muscles, but not me. And it definitely wouldn’t happen so quickly.

Was all of this the spider bite? 

It couldn’t, right? I could dig on Google as much as I wanted and I’d find many different effects of spider bites on humans, but I was absolutely certain none of them would be anything like growing muscles overnight, or sticking to things.

At this point, I had given up not thinking about it. In fact, my head felt like it was about to explode as I got into the shower, trying to come up with perfectly logical explanations to what was happening.

I couldn’t come up with anything. 

It didn’t help when I tried to turn the shower on, and not only the tap broke right in my hand, but it also took a good chunk of the wall with it.

I didn’t think that had anything to do with my newfound muscles.

Carefully, slowly, and hoping to God I wouldn’t start sticking to things again, I stepped out of the shower and put my clothes back on. 

I tried leaving the bathroom without alerting May, but, of course, she was passing right by it when I opened the door. 

“Hey!” I said, “T-the shower broke.”

“What?!” She questioned, barging into the bathroom. Of course, it was hard to miss the hole on the wall. “Peter, what happened?”

“I-I don’t know! I-It just came off!” The weirdest part was, it was actually the truth. “Look, I-I’ve got some homework to do, I’ll-- I’ll be in my room, okay?”

I placed the broken tap on the sink and ran to my bedroom, closing the door behind me. 

Okay, maybe I should start accepting that something  _ was _ happening. Either that, or I was losing my mind. I preferred to believe in the first option. 

My phone buzzed from the nightstand. I let out a sigh of relief seeing it was an email from Ned with the school work he got until now, and a promise he’d send more as the day went on. 

Yes, I know it’s weird to feel relieved about getting school work on a day off, but well, that’s me! Also, as long as no other weird thing happened for the rest of the day, homework was a more than welcome distraction. 

I sat down at the desk and began to work. I never had a problem before, even with the constant noise of cars passing by, the TV from the living room, whichever neighbor decided to put on their music as loud as possible on their balcony. 

Now, that wasn't the case. All the noise that wouldn’t bother me before seemed to be dialed up to eleven. The TV sounded like it was on right in front of me, I might as well be sitting right next to the road and the cars still wouldn’t be that loud and now I could hear the neighbor butchering the song they were playing, too!

I tried putting on my headphones and turning on the first song I found, as loud as possible, hoping it would drown out all the other noise. It wasn’t very effective, but it definitely helped to have a fixed thing to tune my hearing onto and focus on, and that would have to do for now. 

The day went on, and Ned’s emails kept coming. Nothing got stuck to my hand again, and I didn’t accidentally break anything, which was a nice change. I didn’t even think about my overnight muscle growth, or perfect eyesight. 

I wasn’t sure how long had passed when May came into my room.

“Hi!” She said, “Everything okay?”

“Y-Yeah!” I answered, taking off my headphones. “Just-- doing school stuff.”

She nodded, “Well, take a break! You need to eat something, come on.”

I really didn’t want to. Not if it meant leaving the safe space I just created where weird things didn’t happen. Still, I was starting to get hungry. Which was insane considering how much I ate earlier.

Either way, I nodded and followed May into the kitchen. 

The table was all set, which was unusual, especially considering we never found the time to eat together, let alone set the table for it. 

“So, are you sure everything is okay?” May asked, taking the seat across from me. “You’re acting weird today.”

“I’m not.” I answered, already piling way too much food in my plate, and that was including May’s burnt pancakes. “I’m just-- y’ know, tired.”

“Uh-hmm.”

“Really! I-It’s just, with the trip, a-and getting sick. I’m just in a weird mood. That’s all, I promise!”

“Well, if you say so,” May shrugged, starting to eat, though she didn’t seem too convinced, “Oh, just so you know, I called Ben about the shower, he said you’re helping him fix it, and there’s no getting out of it.”

Honestly, that wasn’t so bad. I always liked helping Ben fix things around the house. Well, usually they weren’t things that I broke, but still. It would hardly be a punishment even if it was on purpose.

“I guess that’s fair.” I chuckled. 

It had been way too long since May and I had the time to sit down and talk normally. It was nice. I almost forgot about how I was sticking to things, how I got my eyesight miraculously fixed, or got the body of a Calvin Klein model, or how any tiny little noise would bother me. It was almost like things were back to normal.

Boy, was I wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading! If you can, please leave kudos or a comment, they always make my day, and it really helps to keep me excited about writing more!


	3. With Great Power, Comes HUGE Arguments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow, this chapter was easier to write than I had expected, and I finished it pretty fast. I mean, that might also be due to the fact that I've been pretty bored in quarantine and writing was a nice way out to get out of the TV-The Sims 4 routine. Either way, I liked how it turned out, so I hope you guys do too! 
> 
> And well, we all know things don't get better from here so no yelling at me in the comments, please haha

The next morning, Ben still wasn’t too convinced about my wellbeing, even though I told him repeatedly during breakfast that I felt fine.

He insisted on giving me a ride to school just in case and, honestly, I wasn’t complaining. I’d have to be crazy to turn down a free ride, even if Ben was only doing it to keep an eye on me for as long as I could.

“Where are your glasses?” Was the first thing he asked when we got into the car.

“Oh--” If I was being honest, I completely forgot about them when I was getting ready for school earlier.

I had tried putting them on again before bed last night, thinking maybe my brain was just playing tricks on me and I did not, in fact, get my crappy eyesight completely fixed, but the lenses only made everything blurry and gave me a hell of a headache.

“They’re in my backpack.” 

They most definitely were  _ not _ in my backpack.

“Why?”

Listen. I  _ could _ , and probably  _ should _ tell Ben about what happened. The spider, the abs, the eyesight, the sticking to things. It surely would be a relief to have someone else knowing about it. 

The problem was, I had no idea of how to tell him this without sounding like I lost my mind. I don’t think that was even possible. In fact, I wasn’t even sure if I  _ hadn’t _ lost my mind to begin with.

“I just-- I can see fine, I’ll just put them on during class.” 

Yeah, I agree. That’s a lame excuse. Somehow, though, it worked! 

Or, at least, Ben seemed to buy it for the time being, because he just shook his head and started the car without asking anything else.

Well, not about my glasses anyway.

“Are you sure you’re alright? May said you were acting weird last night.” He asked and I pushed back the urge to scream.

I knew they were worried about me. Any other day, I would have appreciated that. But  _ man, _ it was frustrating when they did it when not even myself knew if I was alright, or why I was acting weird, or why I wasn’t wearing my glasses anymore.

Those things had just sort of  _ happened _ and I was trying my best to live through a very weird situation.

"I'm fine, Ben!” I said, and it came out a little louder than I expected. “I promise, it was just-- a weird day. Alright?”

A pause. Ben looked at me for a long moment, probably trying to find any indication that that wasn’t true. I imagine he couldn’t find anything he could prove, because he just shrugged and started driving away.

I wasn't sure I would keep avoiding his and May's intense care for too long. 

Just to be clear, I do appreciate their concern, okay? I do! It's just hard to contribute when I didn't really know what was going on any better than they did. 

A few minutes later, we pulled up at the school. I was about to leave the car, but Ben stopped me.

When I looked back at him, he had that concerned look on his face. I had rarely seen that look in all the years I lived with him and May, mostly because he always tried to not direct it at me. 

"Pete… look, I just want you to know, you can talk to me, alright? About anything.” He said. “That's why your aunt and I are here for."

"Yeah, I know." I answered, with a tightness on my throat. 

_ Just tell him _ , a part of me thought. Ben always had the answer. No matter what the problem was, he always had a way to deal with it, the right words to comfort me. Why should it be different now?

_ Because  _ you’re _ different _ , a different part of me thought.

"You're entering a very weird part of your life now, you know. Puberty is never easy. But, you know, I lived through it. Anything you want to talk about, I’m here for you.” He smiled.

That's the uncle Ben I knew. Just trying his best, no matter how bad or awkward the situation was, with a smile on his face. I loved him for that.

But I couldn’t tell him. There was no easy way of explaining what was happening, and even if I could, then, what would he say?  _ ‘Oh, things are sticking to your hands? Yeah, don’t worry, totally normal puberty side-effect, once I got stuck to a wall for an entire afternoon, it was so embarrassing!’  _ just didn’t seem plausible.

"I'll, uhm-- I'll remember that.” I smiled back. “Thanks, Ben!"

"Good. Now go before you're late. And don't forget, after school today, you're helping me fix that shower! Don't think for a moment you're escaping, mister!"

"I'd never even think of it! See ya later!" I called back as I left the car. 

I watched the car as it drove away and wondered for how long I could keep that secret. Ben and May knew me too well, if something was wrong, they always figured it out, sometimes before even I did. 

Maybe I should tell him. Once I knew more, at least. Ben could help. I didn’t know how, but I knew he could. 

I had barely turned around to go inside the building when Flash walked by me

“Hey, Penis, tell your ride the junkyard is the other way!” He called, running ahead of me into the school.

I ignored him, as I always did. Though, a small part of me couldn’t help but wonder if it wasn’t worth it to test out exactly what other abilities that bite had given me by punching him. Surely it would be very therapeutic, if I actually knew how to even begin throwing a punch.

Still, the thought made me feel a bit better, so I just continued walking, without even acknowledging Flash’s comment.

At that point, I hadn’t been thinking about the weird sensory overload I got at Oscorp during the trip too much. Sure, since then, there were a couple of loud noises, or strong smells that would bother me a little more than they normally would, but it was nothing like what happened at the trip. 

It all came rushing back the second I stepped inside the school.

It wasn’t nearly as bad as Oscorp, but being in a closed space surrounded by loud, smelly, hormonal teenagers definitely wasn’t fun. I pulled out my headphones again and turned on the music as loud as possible, which, at the very least, helped drown out the sounds, and gave me something to focus on, like yesterday when I tried doing homework.

Yes, I knew it would be impossible to convince any halfway decent teacher to let me wear them during classes as well, but I figured I’d cross that bridge when I got to it. 

I started making my way to my locker, squeezing through the many groups filling the hallways. 

Unfortunately for me, the music didn’t make it much easier to ignore the smell of dozens of teenage boys who showered in Axe Body Spray before coming to school that morning.

I managed to survive the walk to my locker, where Ned was waiting for me. 

“Hey, how are you feeling?” He asked, holding out his hand, almost automatically.

And, almost automatically, I reached out to do our secret handshake. 

“I’m good!” I answered. “I probably just ate something weird at Oscorp, that’s all.”

“And your glasses?” He asked. 

God, I had to keep reminding myself I wasn’t wearing them anymore. “I’m just trying out contacts.”

Ned frowned. “I thought you hated them.”

Ned would know better than anyone. He was there when I tried out contacts for the first time, right before our freshman year started. 

It had been part of our ‘new school, new us’ plan. Needless to say, it didn’t work. If anything, it backfired as now we were now the losers in a school filled with nerds.

“I just thought I’d give them a try again.” I shrugged, and, luckily, Ned seemed to buy it.

“Shame you had to miss the rest of the trip to Oscorp, though. It was pretty cool.”

“You said it was boring!” I argued.

“You got sick and had to leave, of course I told you it was boring!” Ned answered. “I’m a good friend, dude!”

The rest of the morning went by pretty well. I didn’t have any major problems as long as I was tuning in on the teacher's voice to drown out the rest of the noise, I kept my head down in between classes as I always did, and Flash continued being a jerk whenever he saw me walk by.

So, nothing new.

The weirdness really started again in PE class.

See, the thing is, Ned and I are usually the worst ones in PE class. The last ones to finish the warms-ups, the last ones picked for team sports, the first ones to lose, all that.

You know those stereotypical nerds in any high school movie? That’s us. We aren’t proud of that. 

Today that wasn’t the case. Well, not for me, anyway.

I finished the warm-ups before anyone else, which earned me a compliment from the PE teacher, for the first time in… forever, actually. 

I didn’t really intend to. I just did the exercises like I normally would, only they didn’t seem so difficult anymore. I wasn't even winded by the time I was done. 

If I really managed to win muscles overnight and hadn’t dreamed it, it probably made sense. It didn’t make it any less weird. 

Flash was the second one to finish, and spent the remaining time staring at me with a murderous look on his face. Usually, he was one of the first to finish, and then he would spend the rest of the time taunting me and Ned. So it didn’t take a genius to figure out why he was so annoyed. 

I’d have to be more careful. The last thing I wanted was to draw suspicion to my… whatever it was.

As usual, Ned only finished by the time everyone had, and with enough time to spare for the teacher to leave and come back from the supply closet with the materials.

Sweat was dripping down his face and was struggling to breathe. He probably hadn’t even noticed how fast I did it all. Which, honestly, I wasn’t complaining about. Anything to avoid more questions. 

“I’ll go--... Water.” He mumbled before making his way to the water fountain. I followed him.

I didn’t know what else to do, so I just stood there awkwardly, waiting as my best friend tried drinking all of the water available at the school.

“You’re already finished?” He asked when he took a pause for air.

“Yeah, I finished right before you.” Technically, it wasn’t a lie. 

Ned seemed to notice it too, because, somehow, there wasn’t a single drop of sweat anywhere on me, which definitely shouldn’t be the case. 

He was about to say something, but I was no longer paying attention. 

I’m not sure how I can explain it.

It was like this buzzing at the base of my skull. All my senses started going haywire. Not like they did at Oscorp, though. This time, it was like they were all simultaneously trying to tell me something. And, although I couldn’t interpret most of it, one part of the message was more than clear:  _ MOVE! _

And I did. Only it wasn’t really  _ me _ . 

My body seemed to move on its own. I dodged and stepped forward to move Ned out of the way as well. Out of the way of  _ what _ , though, is something I only worked out a moment later. 

Someone had thrown one of the balls in our direction. As I managed to get myself and Ned out of the way, so it just hit the wall and bounced back.

It took one look in the right direction to know who had thrown it. 

Standing there, laughing, though still clearly a bit disappointed he missed, was Flash. Of course it was him.

From the very first day of school, I had managed to avoid Flash well enough, hoping he would eventually get bored and move on to tease some unfortunate poor kid. It never happened. 

I was always the one who got the short end of the stick. The poor kid who was there on a scholarship, the quiet one who didn’t say anything back to him. I was an easy target, and Flash knew it.

But I was tired.

He always got away with things like this. None of the teachers even looked at him twice.. Surely enough, when I looked at our PE teacher, he was looking around, looking for two students to come pick the teams, as if Flash hadn’t done anything. 

“Peter, that was awesome!” Ned said. “How’d you do that?!”

I wasn’t really listening. I wasn’t thinking either, as my next move was grabbing the ball from where it landed and throwing it back at Flash.

It was a bad idea for a couple of different reasons. One, any other day, the ball would barely travel far enough to reach him, which would just be humiliating. Two, was what actually ended up happening.

Any other day, the ball would do no damage to him, right? 

Only today wasn’t any other day.

Instead the ball hit him squarely on the stomach, with so much force that the guy fell back on his butt. My stomach dropped when I realized the impact had taken all the air from his lungs and he was breathing hard trying to get it back.

Everyone in the class gathered around him, trying to help him breathe, get up, anything.

_ I _ did that. 

The teacher ran to Flash and tried to help, while all the other eyes in the room fixed on me, frightened. Even Ned’s.

“Yo--u’re… d--e… dead, P-Parker.” Flash managed. 

I tried to say something. Nothing came out. I had no idea how I had done that.

The teacher got up.

“Parker, with me, to the principal’s office, now!” The teacher said and started walking towards the exit, expecting me to follow him.

I didn’t. I ran straight past him.

Not to the principal’s office, though. I changed quickly in the locker room and sprinted out of the school altogether.

I don’t remember if anyone tried stopping me, I just kept running until I was at least a few blocks away.

About twenty minutes after I ran, my phone started going off, and it didn’t stop for a long time. 

I ran into the first alley I could find once my head cleared out. I could feel my phone buzzing in my pocket, undoubtedly with countless texts, and calls from Ben and May. 

I ignored all of it. 

This wasn’t like giving up wearing my glasses for no apparent reason. This was an entirely different level. I couldn’t come up with some lame excuse for this. Coming up with one meant I had the faintest idea of what actually happened in the first place, and I really didn’t.

I hurt Flash. I didn’t know how. I just threw the ball at him. I didn’t throw it that hard. I just threw it like I normally would, only now I was much stronger than I usually was. 

I guess I could add that to the list of weird things that happened in the last couple of days. Only it was much more harmful than anything else so far. I’d be lying if I said my own strength hadn’t scared me.

What was happening to me? How did I go from barely being able to do a push-up to knocking the wind out of someone? 

It had to be the spider bite, right? But then, what the hell kind of spider could bite someone and give them superpowers?

As the thought occurred to me, I froze. 

_ Superpowers _ , I thought. Is that what those were? Was that what had happened?

Nah, right? This was me, Peter Benjamin Parker, after all. That kind of thing just didn’t happen to me. Out of every other kid that could have been bitten by a spider, there was  _ no way _ I managed to be the one to come out of it with superpowers. No way.

And yet… How else could I explain my eyesights getting fixed overnight? Or that weird feeling back when Flash threw that ball at me, telling me to move? Maybe I somehow had developed super sharp senses.

Or, if not superpowers, how could I explain the abs that came out of nowhere, or the shower tap breaking in my hand, and, especially, how I knocked Flash down with minimal effort? Who knows, I might have gotten superstrength.

If I didn’t get superpowers, when did my hands get superglue abilities? I couldn’t figure out where that would fit into the superpower categories, but it was happening, it was something!

Something was happening. I didn’t want to be too optimistic and claim it was superpowers yet, because, with my luck, they would vanish the second I thought of it. Still, I couldn’t deny it. The bite did  _ something _ . And I really wanted to know what.

I turned around and looked up at the wall. I placed my hand on it, and I didn’t even have to try pulling it back to know I successfully managed to stick to the wall.

_ Well done, Peter! Now you’re stuck! _

At least, it was yet another confirmation that this was actually happening and I wasn’t going insane. My hands really were sticking to things. But what could I do with it? Pull a chunk of the wall out and throw it at someone? It hardly seemed like a good idea.

Then it finally hit me, and I was really embarrassed by how long it took. 

I placed my other hand on the wall, and, being sure it was firmly stuck, I slowly tried lifting myself off the ground, and rested my feet against the wall.

“Whoa!” I laughed, looking at the floor behind me. 

This was  _ insane _ . Awesome, absolutely, but also  _ insane _ . 

I leaned forward and climbed my way to the roof. I could stick to things. I could stick to  _ walls _ and climb them, like… well, like a spider. 

It was a spider that bit me, so it made sense. 

Well, as much sense as being bitten by an arachnid and gaining superpowers could be.

I reached the roof and looked back at the alley all the way down, then to the other building on the opposite wall. It wasn’t that far from me. but it also wasn’t that close. I definitely couldn’t reach it with one jump.

Well, not  _ before _ .

What was the other thing I thought of? Super strength?

I took a deep breath and braced myself in case I was wrong. It was a long way down. 

I jumped across the alley, aiming for the opposite wall. Thankfully, I was able to reach it. 

The feeling of relief faltered for a second as my hands slid a whole inch before they were firmly sticking to the wall again. 

I let out a breath in relief and climbed the rest of the way to the roof. I had a lot to test out for the rest of the afternoon.

I never really had a curfew. I never needed one because I never really went anywhere, so I was always home by the time I should be going to bed. The only exception was when I was at Ned’s, but if I was still there long after dark, he and I had planned a sleepover and Ben and May knew about it.

Still, if I  _ had _ a curfew, I was sure I would have broken it by getting home at 9PM, especially after a full day of ignoring all calls and texts from everyone.

When Ben gave me my first phone, the first thing he said was that, no matter what, I was supposed to answer it if he or May were calling. The whole point of giving it to me was so that we could stay in touch, so there was no point in me having it if I wasn’t going to answer it. 

I wasn’t thinking about that today. I had too much in my head after I ran from the school, and after that, well, I was too busy jumping across rooftops or testing out my superstrength with random heavy looking objects I found laying around to pay attention to my phone.

Basically, I messed up real bad this time. 

I was sure they would be worried sick, and me just walking home as if nothing had happened hardly would earn me a positive reaction from them.

Ben was sitting on the couch when I opened the door, and, surely enough, his reaction seeing me on the doorway wasn’t overwhelming joy. 

Instead he let out a relieved sigh, and got up, turning to face me. 

“I see you remembered you way home,” He said. 

“I--” I started, but he cut me off.

“No! I don’t wanna hear it. I got a call from the school earlier, you know that?” He said. “They said you hurt a classmate. The boy had to go to the hospital! And then, what? You just disappeared? No one could find you, I tried calling you, Ned tried calling you,  _ your aunt _ , stuck at work, was worried sick trying to reach you, and you don’t even have the decency to tell us where you are, that you’re okay?! No, Peter, you have nothing to say here, you know that!”

“Peter, I don’t know what is happening to you,” He continued, “I don’t know why you’re suddenly getting into fights, running away… you committed to fixing that shower with me, today, remember that? And then, not even a call, to let me know you couldn’t make it? This isn’t you, Peter. You know it isn’t.”

Okay, well, he was right. I never changed plans without texting him or May about it. It was our number one rule. I always let them know where I was. 

_ Why? _ , some small, annoying part of me thought.  _ You don’t need them controlling your life. _

“Peter, I want to help you!” Ben said. “That’s what I’m here for. I’ve been your age, I went through the same things!”

I couldn’t help but snort at that. I had no idea what Ben’s teen years were like, but I was absolutely sure he hadn’t been bitten by a spider and suddenly discovered the ability to climb up walls. 

“Yeah, I doubt that,” I mumbled.

Ben fell quiet, seemingly changing his demeanor after that.

“Alright. I if you don’t believe that,  _ fine _ . We’ll go the punishing route, then. Give me your phone.” He said, holding out his hand. “Clearly, you have no use for it.”

I hesitated, and stared at him. He never took away my phone. The one time they did, they caught me texting Ned at 3AM on a school night, they gave it back to me in the morning with a warning. 

I wasn’t a hard kid to deal with. I did my homework, I got good grades, tried to be polite with even the most obnoxious people I met. So, I missed a few calls. For the first time, ever. Something in my dumb, teenage, brain that just discovered having superpowers clicked. 

“No.” I said, “I just needed some time to think, that’s all. I couldn’t do that with you and May talking my ear off all the time!” Like I said, dumb, teenage brain. “Look, I’m tired, okay? I’ll just go to my room.”

I started walking, but Ben positioned himself between me and my bedroom door. Clearly, that strategy wasn’t going to work.

“Phone, Peter. Now!” He demanded again. 

“No!” I denied,  _ again _ . 

Ben took a deep breath. 

I had never seen him angry before, but I was obviously getting dangerously close to it.

“Peter, what is happening to you?” Ben asked. Now, he just sounded desperate. “You were never like this. This isn't you! This isn’t the boy May and I raised, the boy your parents wanted you to become.”

“Well, then maybe they should’ve stuck around to make sure of it!” I yelled.

My parents were never really a sore subject for me. Again, I never met them, I couldn’t feel bad about people who I only knew from pictures. 

But then, by that logic, why should I care about what kind of person they wanted me to be? They clearly didn’t, otherwise they wouldn’t have dumped me with some relative and left without explanation.

“But they couldn’t, right?” I continued, to a dumbfounded Ben. “They left me here and left that up to you!”

“You’re right!” Ben snapped back, the anger in his voice making me take a step back. This was an entirely new territory, for both of us. “They left you here and May and I did all we could to give you the best life we could, to raise you right! And this is what you do? Ignore us a whole day, and act like you’re not in the wrong? I might not be your dad, Peter, but--”

“RIGHT, YOU’RE NOT!” I yelled. “So stop acting like it!” As soon as the words left my mouth, my stomach turned. 

That wasn’t true. That couldn’t be further from the truth. 

It didn’t make it easier when I looked at Ben and I saw the disappointment, sadness, and the tears starting to well up in his eyes. I couldn’t take it back now. 

It was too late. 

I turned around and ran again, slamming the door behind me.

Ben didn’t try to stop me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter is being a dumb teenager, who knew?
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed, I've been trying to alternate between writing this fic and my other one, so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up, but I'll come back soon! 
> 
> In the mean time, please leave some kudos and hopefully some comments, if you have some time to spare to say something, I absolutely love reading them!
> 
> As always, thank you very much for reading!


	4. It’s Been 0 Days Since Our Last Tragedy. Our Record is Of 0 Days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i've been gone for a hot minute there, huh? sorry about that. i don't even have an excuse, i've just been distracted by videogames.
> 
> ALSO this is a weird one. it hops back and forth between may and peter's pov. i don't know how confusing it can be, so feel free to yell at me for it. i just really wanted to fit may's pov in as well and i couldn't figure out how without making it a separate chapter (making it two very small chapters which i wasn't a fan of), so that's why this one got a bit longer, too.
> 
> anyway thanks for sticking with my shaky ass posting schedule and enjoy!

The cup of coffee remained untouched on the table beside her, probably cold by now. May didn’t care. For the past thirty minutes or so, all she had done was scroll up her text history with Peter for the day.

She couldn’t even keep count of how many texts she’d sent that day, asking where he was, if he was okay, if he was  _ safe _ . And that wasn’t even counting how many times she tried calling, too. There hadn’t been much she could do otherwise aside from waiting. 

The school had called Ben early in the afternoon to let him know Peter ran from the school, after injuring a classmate, which didn’t sound right. None of it even remotely sounded like something Peter would do. It  _ had _ to be a misunderstanding.

When Ben first told her what had happened at school, she told him they shouldn’t start freaking out. Maybe Peter was avoiding their texts and calls because he was afraid of what they would say or do. He would show up, then they could have a proper talk and clear everything up.

It made enough sense when he said it, hours ago, when there had only been an hour or so with no news from Peter. 

Now, almost the full day had gone by, and still nothing.

Time to freak out.

To make matters worse, Ben had also stopped replying to her. She was absolutely going to kill them both the second she got home.

“May?” Her co-worker, Eileen, barged into the break room, “Someone just came in, we’ll need help operating! Are you free?” She asked.

May glanced at her clock. Technically, she still had ten minutes left in her break, but she was never one to hold herself to that. Also, she wouldn’t be much help with Peter’s situation in ten minutes, especially now that Ben wasn’t replying either.

She nodded and followed Eileen to the operating room.

“What’s the situation?” She asked as they hurried through the corridors. 

“Male, early forties. Critical gunshot wound.” The nurse replied. “Dr. Carter can give us more details.”

May nodded. They weren’t strangers to gunshot wounds at this point. In the past couple of months, there wasn’t a week that went by without someone needing surgery because of one.

“Right, then. Let’s go!”

**1 HOUR EARLIER**

I wasn’t sure where I was going.

I just kept listening to the echoes of my feet hitting the floor as I kept walking, trying to see through the tears that couldn’t seem to stop swelling up my eyes. 

I had nowhere to go.

Going home was out of the question. I couldn’t. I  _ couldn’t _ face Ben after what I said.

I was angry. I didn’t  _ think _ . And by the time I finally did, it was too late. The words were already out there and there was nothing I could do to take them back. 

Ben  _ was _ my father. Of course, he was. He had been there forever, he was the only parental figure that stuck long enough for me to even remember. How could I ever think otherwise for even a second?

I finally stopped walking to take a breath and put my thoughts in order. I leaned against a wall and tried to wipe away the tears. It wasn’t very effective.

I could barely even see through them, but I needed to pull myself together. And, most importantly, I needed to decide what to do. I couldn’t wander around Queens for the whole night.

I looked around me. The street was dark and deserted, the perfect combination to make me freak out. This time, though, I didn’t mind. Maybe knowing I could defend myself in case someone tried anything helped. But mostly I was relieved that no one was around to see me crying like a baby. 

I pulled out my phone and opened my text chain with Ned, groaning when I saw the amount of texts he’d been sending since early in the afternoon.

(8:47 PM)  **Peter:** Hey, man. srr for disappearing   
(8:47 PM)  **Peter:** I’m ok. Promise   
(8:48 PM)  **Ned:** DUDE!!! omg what happened to u????   
(8:48 PM)  **Ned:** everyone was looking for u, even ur aunt called me   
(8:48 PM)  **Ned:** is everything ok??

I was about to reply when the screen on my phone changed to Ben’s picture. He was trying to call me.

No. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t talk to him. I ignored the call, letting it go to voicemail. I’d talk to him tomorrow. I’d apologize, tell him I didn’t mean it, the whole thing. I just couldn’t do it tonight. There was no way I could look him in the eyes.

(8:49 PM)  **Peter:** everythings fine dw   
(8:50 PM)  **Peter:** can i sleep over at ur place??   
(8:50 PM)  **Peter:** i promise i’ll explain everything   
(8:51 PM)  **Ned:** sure. i’ll tell my mom ur coming   
(8:51 PM)  **Ned:** u should tell may and ben tho   
(8:51 PM)  **Ned:** they were rlly worried   
(8:52 PM)  **Peter:** yeah i know   
(8:52 PM)  **Peter:** i’m omw

I put my phone away, letting out a sigh in relief. 

So, this was better. I had a plan, kind of. I’d spend the night at Ned’s, go to school tomorrow and face whatever they had in store for me for what I did to Flash, then go home and apologize, a lot. And surely face some more consequences for everything else, too.

I nodded to myself and let go of the wall, starting to walk towards Ned’s. His place was just a few blocks away, I’d be there in twenty minutes.

Behind me, I heard a group nearby, walking not that far from me, on the other side of the street. They didn’t seem like much of a threat. They were just a bunch of kids, probably not that much older than me. 

They  _ were _ acting like idiots, though, clearly drunk. They were making jokes and pushing each other around, laughing as if they were the funniest guys in the world. 

I’m no expert in humor, but I could say for sure that they absolutely weren’t.

I ignored them and kept walking, though every second they got more and more on my nerves. I just hoped they’d follow their own way eventually, but, of course, I’m not that lucky. It wasn’t long before one of them noticed me.

One of them pointed at me and whispered to his friends, sure that I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

“Dude, look!” He laughed, “Guy’s all alone, we should go mess with him.”

The rest giggled and pushed each other across the street. I didn’t even need superpowers to hear that. Those guys weren’t subtle at all.

I started walking faster. I knew I could defend myself if I needed to, and that was comforting, but in the end of the day, those kids were nothing more than bullies. And old Peter was still terrified of them. 

Of course, they noticed, which started a fit of laughing from them. They started running towards me.

I didn’t have time to react before one of them grabbed me from behind and turned me around towards his friends.

“Hey, let me go!” I said, knowing very well it was the stupidest thing to say.

“Sure, man!” The guy said, tossing me on the floor.

I was starting to get up when another one kicked me in the leg. I’m pretty sure he was aiming for my ribs and missed, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.

So much for being able to defend myself. I managed to get up as they were still laughing.

I tried walking past them, but one of them pushed me back, and I stumbled backward. I pushed him too, only he lost his balance and fell on his back.

“Hey, dude, that wasn–” One of them started, but I turned around and punched him square in the face.

Now, I had never thrown a punch before. Don’t ask me how I did it, but somehow I got it right. He fell back, too, his nose bleeding. 

“Goddamn freak,” The third one commented, but he didn’t try to bother me. They seemed to have gotten the message: piss off.

They started walking away, one of them hitting his shoulder against mine on the way. I ignored it as I felt my phone buzz.

It was a text from Ned saying his mom prepared some food, but that wasn’t what I focused on. There was a large crack across the screen that definitely hadn’t been there before. My phone had been in the pocket on the leg Drunk Idiot #2 had kicked.

“You broke my phone!” I said, not necessarily angry.

Honestly, I’m not one to care about it much. It was just a crack on the screen. It just very clearly was a terrible day to be Peter Parker. 

Excluding the superpowers, I guess. 

Still, it wasn’t like I could afford to fix it, let alone getting a new one if something else turned out to be wrong.

“Whatever, freak! It ain’t our problem.” Drunk Idiot #2 called, walking with his group, now ahead of me. 

I ignored him. Hopefully, that meant they would leave me alone now.

Just to be safe, I made a point to stay as far from them as I could.

“Hey, team, thank you so much for cooperating,” Dr. Carter said, walking into the operating room. The patient would be there any second, but she liked giving everyone a motivational speech before every surgery. Weird idea, considering the state of most patients that ended up on her table. “I know many of you were on your breaks or ready to leave, so appreciate that you’re here.”

As usual, everyone was only half paying attention, most of their effort was focused on getting the room and equipment prepared. No one had time to stop.

“Do we know anything about the patient, doc?” One of the other nurses, Rupert, asked. 

“Yes, we do!” Carter replied, looking down at the file in her hands. “Let’s see, 44-year-old male, gunshot wound to his stomach, near his liver. Critical condition. He was found by his nephew just a few minutes ago, a few blocks from his apartment complex in Forest Hills.”

May’s stomach dropped. Nephew, Forest Hills–

No. No, of course not.

It was a coincidence.

It  _ had _ to be.

“May? May, are you okay?” Eileen asked. A second later, something seemed to click, because she looked at the doctor and then back to May as if connecting the dots. “Oh– I-I’m sure it’s not Ben, okay? A lot of people live in Forest Hills.”

May ignored her and walked towards Carter. Her knees felt like jello, every step seemed to pull her further away from the doctor rather than closer.

She had to know.

“Linda? Do you--” She started, feeling her throat closing up. “Do you know his name? The patient’s name?” She asked.

The doctor looked a bit distracted but looked down at her file to check. She raised her eyebrows as she read the name, then looked back to May, an apologetic look on her face.

She didn’t need to say it, but May didn’t need her to. Somehow, she knew what was coming. She knew whose name the doctor was about to read out loud. She took the file from the doctor’s hands and looked at it for herself.

Right there at the top, May could read the name clear as day:  _ Benjamin Franklin Parker. _

It all happened really fast.

It took me a moment to realize the commotion going on up ahead of me, and a couple more seconds for my brain to fully process it.

The Drunk Idiots had stopped walking, and moved on to yell at some random guy standing in front of them. 

The first thing that I noticed about the guy was a big, ugly scar above his right eye. That angry look in his eye coupled with the low light coming from the post above them made him look even scarier. He was angrily pointing his finger at the children and yelled back. 

“Everything you got! Right now, or I swear I’ll blow your brains out!”

Wait, what? That didn’t sound right. I thought the Drunk Idiots had stopped to mess with him like they did to me, but that wasn’t what was going on. It wasn’t his finger the guy pointed at the group– it was a  _ gun _ .

Instinctively, I took a step back. Ben and May always told me to run the other way if I ever saw something like this happening, and I was about to do exactly that, but something stopped me.

Those were instructions for weak, skinny Peter Parker.  _ That _ Peter Parker would surely be hopeless against a mugger. But I wasn’t weak, skinny Peter Parker anymore. I could  _ do  _ something. I could face him, potentially stop him, too!

Before I could make up my mind, the guy bolted in my direction, probably having gotten whatever he wanted from those guys– their phones, wallets, or whatever. 

Now was my turn. 

I made the mistake of looking behind him. Running right behind the mugger was Drunk Idiot #2, desperately trying to catch up with Big, Ugly Scar Man.

“Stop him!” He called, I noticed, looking directly at me.

That was when I got angry. That guy came to bother me, tried to beat me up and broke my phone! Why should I help him? He surely wouldn’t if the roles were reversed.

I stepped aside, letting Big, Ugly Scar Man run right past me. 

“Thanks, kid!” The man said as he passed, starting to run faster now that there were no obstacles in his way. 

Drunk Idiot #2 caught up to me, massaging his chest as he struggled to catch his breath.

“What the hell, man?! You could’ve stopped him, why didn’t you?!” He asked.

I shrugged in response. “It ain’t my problem!” 

The guy cursed and headed back to his group, leaving me with a satisfied smile on my face.

Barely a minute later, I heard a gunshot.

May wasn’t sure how long it had been. Long enough for the tea cup resting on the table in front of her to have gone cold, certainly.

She couldn’t even remember who had made it for her. Everything after she left the operating room was just a blur.

Linda had advised her to sit this one out seeing as the patient in critical condition was her husband. For once, May was happy to do so. Just the thought of Ben laying on the operating table was too much to handle, she would be useless trying to operate on him too. 

So she just sat there, numb, staring at nothing, hoping someone,  _ anyone _ would walk in to tell her her husband was okay, that he would live. But she’d operated on patients with wounds similar to his. She knew what the odds were and she didn’t like them one bit.

_ No _ , she told herself. She had to be strong, she had to believe Ben would make it out of this. For herself, for their family, for Peter.

Oh, God,  _ Peter _ ! Ben had been found by his nephew, which meant Peter had to be here somewhere. She got up in a jump, and bolted to the waiting room.

I wasn’t sure why I ran in the direction the gunshot came from. All logic told me it was the most stupid thing to do.

But logic wasn’t in charge now. That horrible feeling at the pit of my stomach was. Someone could be hurt. That was all I cared about.

Maybe the shooter would still be there, and then… what? I’d fight them? I never even threw a punch my whole life. All that confidence I had when Scar Man ran towards me was gone now.

I knew I found the place when I saw a few people gathering around a figure on the floor. One of them had their phone out, and was discussing with the others whether they should call an ambulance, which seemed like a waste of time. The person was clearly hurt, they needed medical help as soon as possible.

I slowly approached the group, and when I looked down at the body, my stomach dropped.

For a moment, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It couldn’t be. Surely this was my mind playing tricks on me. It wasn’t right, Ben couldn’t be…

“Peter…” He called when he saw me.

I collapsed onto my knees next to him, my mind working a thousand miles per hour. I had to do something. I didn’t know what, but I couldn’t just sit there and watch my uncle die, there had to be something I could do to help!

Put pressure on the wound. That was one thing I could remember from every movie and tv show I ever watched. that was good, right? Stop the bleeding until help got here. Yes. That was a good idea. 

I took off my jacket and pressed it to the wound. It wasn’t much. Ben still seemed to get paler by the second, but I didn’t know what else to do.

“Ben! Ben, I’m so sorry, I—” I started, but the words didn’t seem to find their way out of my mouth. Even if they did, what the hell could I even say?

“Kid, do you know him?” The lady with the phone asked. “Should I ca–”

“Call an ambulance!” I all but screamed at her, “P-Please, he- he needs help!”

She didn’t hesitate before pressing 911 and calling in.

May scanned the waiting room looking for her nephew. It was far less busy than usual today, but the look of desperation in most of people’s faces was the same as every other day. 

Today, May was one of them, too. Desperate, restless, waiting for news of a loved one who could not make it out of the hospital alive. 

It took her a moment to find Peter. He was sitting in a corner with his head down and arms wrapped around himself. 

She couldn’t even bring herself to be mad at him for disappearing all day. He was here now,  _ safe _ , and that was all that mattered. They had much bigger issues at hand.

She ran over to him. Peter saw her approach, and made no objections when May wrapped him in her arms.

With a skip of her heart, she realized Peter’s hands were covered in blood.  _ Ben’s  _ blood, she realized. It took everything in her not to break down right then.

Peter needed her right now. She had to be there for him until they knew for sure what was happening. And, likely,  _ after _ they knew for sure what was happening, too.

She shook those thoughts out of her head. Ben would be fine. He  _ had _ to. May didn’t know what she would do if something happened to him.

She wasn’t sure how much time had gone by as she and Peter sat in the waiting room. It could have been minutes or it could have been hours before Linda approached them. May took a moment to remember it was them she was coming to talk to. Her heart started beating faster in her chest once she did. 

“W-Where is Ben?” Peter asked, standing up from his seat. “H-He’s okay, right?”

Linda shot a look at May, and she didn’t have to say anything. May knew that expression on her face– the one that she had seen other doctors wear and had worn herself as she was about to break the bad news to the family.

May’s brain shut down, her ears refused to process what Linda was saying. She knew the script. She knew what happened.

They did all that they could, but Ben hadn’t made it. Oh, how many times had  _ she _ been the one to say those words? How many times she had to watch, powerless, as the family slowly came to the realization that their loved one was gone.

It was her turn now.

Peter sank back into his seat, covering his face with his hands. 

May wanted to scream, to cry, to drag Linda back into that operating room and tell her to do  _ more _ , to figure out  _ something _ , to bring her husband back.

She knew it was pointless, though. There was nothing Linda, or anyone, could do to help Ben.

She looked at Peter. The boy had lost so much already. First his parents, now Ben. Not only that, he had been the one to  _ find _ Ben, bleeding on the street. That couldn’t be easy on him. She needed to get him home.

“I’ll… leave you two alone, for now,” Linda said, “May, if you need anything-”

“I know,” May replied, just barely holding a sob. “I know. Thank you, Linda.”

The doctor nodded and left the room.

May wrapped her arms around Peter again, who leaned into the touch just as easily as earlier. 

Her and Peter weren’t blood relatives. Ben was Richard’s brother. May just married into the family. Of course, that never mattered before, and it sure as hell wouldn’t now, if she had anything to say about it. She and Ben had raised that boy, and she’d continue to do so until he was old enough to live his own life. 

And, right now, he needed her. Just as much as she needed him. She didn’t know how, but they’d make it through this. They had to.

“T-The last… last thing I said to him, I-” Peter started, between his sobs, “He… was trying to tell me something important. I should’ve listened, I should–”

“Shh, Peter, it’s okay,” She tried assuring him. This wasn’t the time for that, and it wouldn’t do Peter much good to dwell on it, either. 

May barely noticed it when a couple of police officers approached them. 

“Excuse me,” One of them started, “Are you the Parkers?”

May looked up at them, her mind slowly trying to catch up to reality. She nodded.

“We’re really sorry,” He continued, “But we need to ask Mr. Parker here a few questions regarding what happened earlier tonight.”

May wanted to argue. Peter had just been through  _ a lot _ , they couldn’t expect him to talk after that. He was just a boy. What he needed was to go home, process everything. He shouldn’t have to do this now.

But she didn’t.

She couldn’t even process the exact words she wanted to say. Her brain was still too numb from the news, she doubted she could form a cohesive sentence if she tried.

So, instead, Peter untangled himself from her arms and wiped his tears. This wasn’t fair. He shouldn’t have to do this right now.

But May didn’t stop him. She couldn’t. And, even if she could, didn’t she also want to know what happened? Know who had shot her husband, if what Peter had to say could get them there.

So, then, Peter talked. He didn’t have much to say. He hadn’t seen anything before he found Ben, on the floor, bleeding. 

Thankfully, the officers didn’t push much past that. Soon enough, they gave their condolences and started to go away.

“Oh, uhh, another thing,” One of them said, turning back to her and Peter. “A witness saw a man walking away from the crime scene. We’ve managed to get a drawn portrait of him,” He pulled a piece of paper from his jacket and held it out to them. Peter was the one to take it. “Blonde hair, big scar above his eye. We have teams already looking for him. We’ll be in touch as soon as we’ve got anything.”

May nodded, mustering as much of a smile as she could. “Thank you, officer.”

The man offered them a sorrowful smile and walked away.

May sighed. It was pointless to stay here for much longer. Things wouldn’t change the longer they stayed. And, honestly,  _ she _ didn’t think she could stay, either. She needed to get home, get some sleep, if she could. She was sure Peter could use it too.

“Hey,” She took Peter’s hand, “Why don’t we go home? You must be tired.”

Peter didn’t reply.

That was when May actually looked at him. Peter still had the drawn portrait of Ben’s potential killer in his shaky hands, and stared at it, the tears swelling up his eyes again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, here we go! thank you very much for reading and, if you have the time, please leave a comment and tell me what you think! i got a bunch last chapter and they made my day each time! it really keeps me excited to write more!
> 
> that's all for today, folks, i guess i'll see you..... at some point in the future! (i promise i'm planning on finishing this don't worry about it!)

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, wow, Peter was bitten by a spider? Who could’ve thought, I sure never saw that coming, no sir!
> 
> In all seriousness, though, as a big Spider-Man fan, I wanted to do sort of a mix of the other two versions of Peter’s origin story for this, because for all their flaws, I do enjoy every Spidey we got on the big screen so far. I’m keeping this up for the rest of it, of course, not just for this chapter, so stay tuned!
> 
> Thank you very much for reading it, and especially for reading my ramblings on the notes, and if you enjoyed it, please don’t forget to leave kudos and a comment, if you can! 
> 
> Seriously, I’m very on the fence about this first person thing, I’ll need constant reassuring!
> 
> (Ok, that last part was a joke, but really, comments do go a long way, so if you took the time of your day to say something, thank you so much!)


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